Avian Flu

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Answer by the Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 23 June (HL Deb, cols. 1725–27) on the threat of an avian flu pandemic, what assessment they have made of developments since that date in regard to the readiness of the National Health Service to cope should the threat materialise later this year or in the first six months of 2006.

Lord Warner: We are aware that an influenza pandemic will place considerable pressure on health and social care services due to the significant increase in the number of patients requiring treatment both in the community and in hospital. There will also be a reduced workforce due to illness, which will place further pressure on services. In March 2005, the Department of Health published the UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan, which provides a framework that seeks to reduce the health impact of a pandemic and the possible disruption it may cause to essential services and people's daily lives.
	The National Health Service is used to planning for emergencies and we have provided information and guidance to help it ensure that existing plans are appropriate for an influenza pandemic. Operational guidance was published in May 2005 to help with general planning and a framework for antiviral distribution and use was published last month. We are also developing clinical management guidelines, with the Health Protection Agency and the British Thoracic Society, to help inform management of patients suffering from pandemic flu. In addition, we are finalising infection control guidelines. We hope to publish both sets of guidelines very shortly.
	We are also taking action centrally to help reduce the burden on the health service. For example, antiviral treatment of patients suffering from pandemic flu may halve the number of hospitalisations. We are purchasing enough antiviral drugs to treat the quarter of the population who may become ill.